Thormodus Torfus
medieval and more recent. Thus, the work is based on a
Portrait of Torfus
Thormodus Torfus (Thormodr Torfason, Thormod Clausdatter.
Torfus, or ormur Torfason) (16361719) was
an Icelandic historian, born 27 May 1636 at Engey,
Iceland and educated at the University of Copenhagen. 2 Works
He lived and worked for most of his life in Kopervik,
Karmy, Norway. In 1667 he was appointed royal an-
tiquary of Iceland, and in 1682 King Christian V of Den-
mark appointed him Royal Historian of the Kingdom of
Denmark-Norway. He translated several Icelandic works
into the Danish language and was the author of Historia
Vinlandi Antiqu (1705); Grnlandia Antiqua (1706);
and Historia Rerum Norvegicarum (four volumes, 1711).
In 1711, Torfuss Historia rerum Norvegicarum (his-
tory of Norway, written in Latin) was published in
four folio volumes. It was the rst comprehensive pre-
sentation of Norwegian history since Snorri Sturluson's
Heimskringla. The work covers Norwegian history, from
its earliest beginnings until 1387. The focus and the
strength of the work lies in the older, medieval history.
Torfus had at his disposal a number of medieval Old
Norse saga manuscripts, and he was a pioneer in using
these as source material. He reworked this Old Norse lit-
erature into a coherent Latin history. As well, he built
on a large amount of historical narratives in Latin, both
1
mixed foundation of medieval Old Norse saga tradition
and contemporary continental Latin culture.
Through his adaptation this Norse literary tradition be-
came known to a large public Dano-Norwegian as well
as European. What was written during the next cen-
tury about older Norwegian history was almost invari-
ably based on Torfuss work. Ludvig Holberg praised
the work as one of the most impressive and wonderful
histories ever to have seen the light. Torfus died on 31
July 1719 in Stangeland, Karmy.
A Norwegian state-funded project is currently in the pro-
cess of translating all of his work into Norwegian.[1]
1 Family
Torfus parents were Icelandic governor Tor Erlends-
son (15981665) and Tordis Bergsveinsdttir (160269).
Torfus was married twice, 1.) on 9 July 1665, with the
widow Anna Hansdatter (162016.12.1695), daughter of
Hans Gabrielsen Kvinesdal and Soe; and 2.) in 1709
with Anne Hansdatter Gammel (c. 16601723), daugh-
ter of councilman Hans Pedersen Gammel and Marie
Commentatio historica de rebus gestis Freyansium
seu Frensium, Copenhagen 1695
Orcades seu rerum Orcadensium historiae, Copen-
hagen 1697 (English trans. 1866)
Series dynastarum et regum Dani, Copenhagen
1702
Historia Vinlandi antiqu, Copenhagen 1705 (En-
glish trans. 1891, Norwegian 2004)
Historia Hrol Kraki, Copenhagen 1705
Gronlandia antiqu, Copenhagen 1706 (new edi.
w/notes 1947)
Trifolium historicum, Copenhagen 1707
Historia rerum Norvegicarum, 4 b., Copenhagen
1711
2 4 EXTERNAL LINKS

Torfana (brevveksling), Copenhagen 1777

Arne Magnusson Brevveksling med Torfus, rel.

by K. Klund, Copenhagen 1916

2.1 Non-published material

Torfus copybooks and letters are located in Det
arnamagnanske institut, Copenhagen University

Handwritten translations at Det kgl. Bibliotek,

Copenhagen

3 References
[1] University of Stavanger - UiS-professor gir nytt liv til Tor-
fus

4 External links
Store Norske Leksikon - Tormod Torfus
 3

5 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

5.1 Text
Thormodus Torfus Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thormodus_Torf%C3%A6us?oldid=706627763 Contributors: Haukurth,
Bearcat, Gene Nygaard, Angusmclellan, Superslum, Gaudio, SmackBot, Bluebot, Barend, Michkalas, Iridescent, Gnome (Bot),
Themightyquill, Waacstats, Lisamh, Aciram, Ovs, Broadbot, Lylefor, Saddhiyama, Addbot, SpillingBot, Lightbot, Luckas-bot, Sylgja,
RjwilmsiBot, EmausBot, Snotbot, ChrisGualtieri, VIAFbot, KasparBot and Anonymous: 2

5.2 Images
File:Thormod_Thorlus.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Thormod_Thorl%C3%A6us.jpg Li-
cense: Public domain Contributors: Own photographic reproduction of an expired work of art. Original artist: Un-
known<a href='https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4233718' title='wikidata:Q4233718'><img alt='wikidata:Q4233718' src='https://upload.
wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/20px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png' width='20' height='11' srcset='https://
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/30px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.
org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/Wikidata-logo.svg/40px-Wikidata-logo.svg.png 2x' data-le-width='1050' data-le-height='590'
/></a>

5.3 Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0